How to Make Fast Alpine Skiing Athletes Even Faster Using Speed Analysis
It can be difficult to help the fastest athlete in a training group.
In alpine ski racing, once an athlete is consistently at the top of the timing sheet, the question becomes more precise. Where exactly are they losing consistency, even if their overall time remains the fastest?
With traditional timing systems, identifying these areas is challenging. If every split is green, there is little context for where the athlete is being challenged.
When using video and GPS data linked together, coaches can see exactly where speed builds, stabilizes, or drops throughout the run. This allows small deviations to become visible, even for top performers.
Better data supports clearer performance decisions
A GPS-based system records location and speed multiple times per second. Instead of working from one or two split times, coaches can review continuous data across the entire course.
Traditional timing gives only total time and possibly one or two intermediate splits. This creates large gaps in understanding. An athlete may lose speed through a combination and regain it later, finishing with the fastest overall time. Without deeper data, that section remains hidden.
With detailed speed information and side-by-side run comparison, it becomes possible to see how one run differs from another at every meter of the course.
These techniques apply equally to slalom, giant slalom, downhill, and super-G. They are particularly useful when an athlete is already performing at a high level and improvements are incremental.
How it works in practice
- Build a quantriq. Upload several runs from a top athlete and build a quantriq. This defines the course structure and allows consistent section analysis across runs.
- Select the runs. Choose all runs from the session and analyze them together. Organize the graph by distance and switch to relative view. This shows each run compared to the athlete’s fastest run.
- Analyze relative speed. Viewing relative speed highlights where the athlete diverges from their best effort.
- Look for inconsistency in speed. Identify sections where speed varies significantly from run to run.
In this example, the athlete is consistent through the first half of the course. In the latter half, performance begins to vary more noticeably. That variance indicates a section worth investigating further.
- Connect data to execution. Once the section is identified, review terrain, gate setup, and video to understand what is happening physically.
By linking the speed chart directly with GPS ski video analysis, coaches can explain exactly what is happening at the moment speed begins to drop or fluctuate.
From there, adjustments can be made in training to target that specific section. This approach supports a simple and repeatable workflow that fits naturally into daily sessions.
For a broader overview of how Protern connects capture, data linking, and review during training, see How Protern Works.
